Free AMP Private War by Stephen Arseneault Page A

left for Bullwort. I spoke, "Now that we are away from the Grid I have a few extra things to tell you."
    Jeb got a worried look on his face.
    I continued, "First off, I want you to know that you are not in any danger and that you will be paid the consulting fee as was agreed upon. What I want to discuss is our intent for the weapons we would like you to build for us."
    "As you know Jeb, we are at war with the Milgari. And when I say we I am not only referencing the Grid. I am talking about our team back on Bullwort. We want to use your guns in an assault on the Milgari."
    Jeb got a puzzled look on his face. "You want to take these into battle against the Milgari? They have blasters you know and while these are fun to toy around with they are no match for a blaster, unless you haven't told me everything yet. Please go on."
    I set the way-points back to Bullwort and then set the speed to go full once we were out of range of the Grid's sensors. "We are only in the early stages of planning at the moment. But your friend here turned us on to an idea that I think might just work. We plan to knock out a Milgari frigate and then boarding her with these weapons."
    "And when I say knock out I mean taking everything that runs on ions offline, which would include blasters. Your guns, Jeb, do not require power and are therefore ideal for the assault we are planning. It would be us with guns versus the Milgari with their disgusting suction cupped hands. We want you to build us the weapons Jeb, and then the range for us to practice on.
    "We have the credits for you to do just about whatever you want. And we aren't asking you to fight, just to build us what we need to pull this off. That would include some of those gazookas and branades or whatever those other devices were called."
    Jeb let out a howl before Ham could respond. "I think you mean bazookas, but I kinda like gazookas better!"
    The remainder of the flight back to Bullwort was spent discussing the gunpowder weapons and their strengths and pitfalls. Just before we landed Jeb asked a question. "I was just noticing your speed indicator there Rex. That is not in SOLs is it? I mean, there aren't ships out there doing over 300 SOL are there? I'm a bit of an ion drive buff too, worked on them down in the Alpha yards before giving the range a shot."
    Ham placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'll handle this one. This ship... has been over 600 SOL before. That's right, the Swift, the ship you are riding in, has traveled faster than any ship in the galaxy, that is, other than the Grid when we are on the run!"
    Jeb's excited grin suddenly began to fade. "If you figured out how to hit 600 SOL then there is a fair chance that the Milgari are going to figure that out too. I've heard we hit over a 1,000 SOL when we fire up those Grid gravity drives. But that isn't going to take us far enough if the Milgari can hit 600. We would have to jump every three years and there wouldn't be enough fuel for a full jump. No, this here has me concerned... real concerned."
    Ham grabbed his friend on the shoulder and squeezed. "Hey… you and me both. That is why Rex formed up this outfit. If we can hit 600, they are not far behind. And the Milgari are much closer to attacking the Grid than any of those politicians let on. We could be hit in a month, by ships that are far more powerful, and more plentiful, than anything we have ever faced before."
    "And I tell you what really scares me, it's the idiots we have in charge. Too many of them have vested interests in this sector with all the businesses they have set up. Don't get me wrong, I am all for our free capitalist ways, but when those in the government get involved in business they tend to do things that they perceive are in their own best interest and not always what's best for the rest of us."
    Our discussions continued as we landed on Bullwort. Jeb was eager to see our operation and to meet the patriots that had taken it upon themselves to fight the Milgari.